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Brown, Cust help A's rally past Mariners

Apr 28, 2008 - 12:34 AM SEATTLE (Ticker) -- Felix Hernandez was on cruise control, and then he came apart.

Emil Brown had a two-run single and Jack Cust added an RBI single in a four-run eighth inning as the Oakland Athletics rallied for a 4-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.

The A's were dominated by Hernandez for seven innings and trailed 2-0, but finally broke through by sending 10 men to the plate in the decisive eighth frame.

Hernandez allowed just four hits entering the seventh but issued a leadoff walk to Jack Hannahan and Mark Ellis followed with a double to left. He then walked Daric Barton, and Brown tied the game at 2-2 with a broken-bat single to left.

"I was looking for something out over the plate and I think he (Hernandez) caught more of the plate than he wanted to," Brown said. "When guys get on base, I just tell myself to think the big part of the field, which is up the middle. I want to drive those guys in and you have to have the right mentality and I think that helps."

Brown's key hit spelled the end of the night for the 22-year-old righthander, who seemed headed to his sixth straight win over the A's prior to the eighth-inning meltdown.

"I felt good," Hernandez said. "I worked hard and pitched pretty good. It was a tough loss. It was for nothing. We lost the game."

"Felix dominated so much of the game," A's manager Bob Geren said. "It was a big win. Your chances seem pretty slim, so it's encouraging for the confidence of all the players."

Brendan Morrow came in and walked Frank Thomas and allowed a go-ahead single to Cust. One batter later, Ryan Sweeney made it 4-2 with an RBI single to left.

"He (Hernandez) always throws well against us," Cust said. "He was locating the ball well and luckily we had that big inning where we finally got a couple of runs across."

"Felix pitched well, but the eighth inning was tough on us," Mariners manager John McLaren said. "We let some opportunities slip away again."

The late-inning outburst helped Joe Blanton (2-4) pick up his first win in three starts. Blanton allowed two runs and eight hits in seven innings with three strikeouts and two walks.

"It wasn't a game where I had my best stuff by any means," Blanton said. "But it was one of those games that, at the end of the day, you are really proud of. I had to battle through it and that kind of makes me feel good about myself."

Seattle took a 1-0 lead in the first as Adrian Beltre doubled home a run, and Betancourt extended the lead to 2-0 with his first home run of the season in the fourth.

However, Hernandez could not finish his impressive start. Hernandez was charged with four runs and six hits with a season-high 10 strikeouts and four walks in seven-plus innings.

The Mariners finished 2-4 on a their homestand.

"It wasn't a good homestand," McLaren said. "We've just got to pick ourselves up and keep going. We're still not running on all cylinders. We've still got too many guys who are not swinging the bat well."